Editor’s Note: We’re back with another NLL Game of the Week! Thanks to the help of the innovative team at SISU Guard, the Official Mouthguard of the NLL, we are beefing up our National Lacrosse League coverage for 2016! We hope you enjoy our look at the NLL season through a new lens with the aid of our partner SISU!
It’s game one of a five-game home stretch for the Georgia Swarm and a chance to find their first win in almost a month. That is, if the Rochester Knighthawks don’t have something so say about it. The Hawks are having trouble of their own and we all know wins are harder to come by in the second half of the season.
The five game last weekend weren’t as close as we’d hoped. Here’s to the only three games on the horizon not being blowouts, starting with the Knighthawks at Swarm.
NLL Game of the Week
Rochester Knighthawks (5-5) at Georgia Swarm (4-6)
When: 3/18/2016 – 7:30 pm ET
Where: Infinite Energy Arena – Gwinnett, Georgia
Watch: Fox Sports GO
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[mks_one_half]Standing: 3rd in Eastern Conference
Watch For: The Hawks will be looking to slow the game down at all costs. Rapid ball movement on offense can pick the Georgia defense apart. The Swarm have given up 78 goals in 5 games, they need to have a high volume of shots on goal.
Points Leader: Cody Jamieson – 21 goals, 40 assists
Things to work on: Matching feet in transition and working hard on the forecheck. Find a way to slow down the Swarm and keep ripping off shots on goal.
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[mks_one_half]Standing: 4th in Eastern Conference
Watch for: Here’s to hoping for a mountain of goals from some of the brightest stars in the NLL. The problem is, sometime’s there’s almost too many cooks in the Georgia kitchen. Either way, the team is built to run and gun.
Points Leader: Johnny Powless – 25 goals, 23 assists
Needs to work on: Consistency. We see almost a different style of play from the Swarm week in and week out. The have the fire power, they need to work set plays on offense and let it fly.
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A loss this weekend to the Hawks would put the Swarm in some deep waters. They’re on a 1-4 skid, with the only win in the past 5 games was an impressive 19-15 win in Buffalo. Now they’re just a single game ahead of the bottom rung but a win puts them back in the playoff picture. Last time these two met was in Week 5, the Swarm were in and out of the Blue Cross with a 13-9 win fueled by the four Haudenosaunee forwards. The quartet combined for 9 goals and 12 assists in front of a crowd filled with family and friends, it will be up to them to spread the defense and attack the interior against the veteran defense.
It will be interesting to see what type of showing the home team will get out of their still infant fan base now that the field lacrosse season is in full swing. There’s sure to be a good number of fans like me watching from home since the matchup is the only East Coast game over the weekend.
Rochester is right on the cusp of being a championships-caliber team, at times. Then there’s games like when they got their doors blown off by Toronto of all teams, 17-6. Almost everything goes through Jamieson, Dawson, Keogh and Vitarelli, Walters is dishing out some good feeds, but the big four are taking nearly all of the shots. Their transition team has very few points this year and will once again be facing a more youthful lineup that can push the tempo on both sides of the floor. Patience is a virtue for the veteran Knighthawks, quick ball movement and unselfish decisions on offense and pressure, pressure, pressure on defense is the way to tie up the Thompsons and keep Staats from shooting. Their more than familiar with Powless’ style, but if they cut of his support, they will be able to limit what Vinc has to see from him. Jackson, Matiscz and King are also raking in the assists and can be counted on for a handful of spontaneous goals here and there. When dealing with the Swarm, you’ll have your hands full, but it’s really about outscoring them.
If the Swarm want any shot at this one, they’re going to need to be consistent and stick to their game plan. They’re a team that could end up winning themselves a championship based on star power alone, they just need to work together as a unit to get themselves in position. The playoff run is short and anything can happen, if they can both keep Toronto at bay, it will be one of these two teams clawing for that final seed.
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Week 12 Games
Saturday
- Colorado Mammoth at Calgary Roughnecks – 9:00 pm – Watch ESPN
- Saskatchewan Rush at Vancouver Stealth – 10:00 pm – Fox Sports GO
Which game are you looking forward to the most? Make your predictions for this weekend and the rest of the 2016 NLL season in the comment section below!
